Though You Wander
by mush14meyers
Summary: Laura's spent her entire childhood in New York City. Once her family picks up and moves to Colorado, she's forced to leave the newsie she knows as her best friend behind. She finally returns years later,unsure if things can ever go back to normal
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the original characters from the Disney movie, "Newsies." The only characters in this story that I claim ownership over are Laura and her family.

Back with another Newsies fic. :D Okay. This one is going to be short. I was originally going to make it a one-shot, but I decided against it. I'm pretty sure I'm going to have three parts to it, making the chapters a little longer than usual. Hope you guys like it.

-.:':.(.:':.).:':.-

The two of us were at our favorite place in the whole entire world. Of course, at our young age, our entire world was New York City. Back then it was the only place we knew of and, as far as we were concerned, the center of the universe. And Central Park was the most beautiful place in the center of the universe.

He was seated on an old wooden bench, attempting to tie his shoe. He looked down at the laces with concentration as he folded the string around his fingers. Careful not to make my presence known, I tiptoed up behind him. Then, snatching his hat clear off his head, I ran off in the opposite direction.

For a split second, he was bewildered as he stared after me. I glanced over my shoulder and beamed at him. Groaning in annoyance, he got to his feet. "Laura!" He yelled after me, forgetting about the dilemma of the untied-shoe. When I didn't turn back, he took off after me.

Skittery always had this thing with his newsboy hat. The kid probably slept with it, for all I knew. He hated his unruly brown hair, but I loved it. It always seemed to be messed up, so he couldn't stand when I stole his hat. Skittery would always get so aggravated with me. I suppose that's why I did it.

Even at the young age of nine, he was really tall. His long legs were no match for mine, so he caught up to me quickly. In no time I was wrestled to the ground and being tickled mercilessly. "No, no! S-Skitts, Skitts stop!" I yelled. I tried to breathe through my fits of laughter. His angry look finally faded into a grin and he refused to quit tickling me. The hat lay beside us, forgotten.

"Is dat any way to treat yer _goilfriend,_ Skittery?" Someone questioned. The two of us froze and looked up to see Cowboy, Kid Blink, and Mush. Skittery quickly grabbed his hat and put it back on his head while he got to his feet.

He stared at Kid Blink and Mush for a few seconds, daring them to laugh. Then his gaze wandered to the third boy. "She ain't me goilfriend." He told Cowboy, glaring at him. Cowboy glared right back. Back then, he wasn't the leader of the Manhattan newsies yet. The only thing he had over the rest of them was his quick tongue and his tall stature. But Skittery was just as tall.

"Well, why don't we leave dat for da goil to decide?" Cowboy asked, transferring his gaze to me. Even if he was just teasing Skittery for the fun of it, I couldn't help but be scared of Cowboy. Hell, at eight years old, I was afraid of anyone over five feet tall. Except Skitts, of course. He was my best friend.

So I avoided Cowboy's eye-contact, staring at his bandana instead. The bandana tied around his neck was bright red, before its color had started to fade. I couldn't bring myself to answer. Skittery could sense my discomfort and his hand quickly found mine, closing safely around it. I suddenly found the courage to shake my head from side to side.

"Hm. Fine." Cowboy muttered, disgruntled. He turned around and motioned for Blink and Mush to follow him. "Dey'll admit it, someday." He assured them in a loud whisper. Skittery glared in their direction until the three were out of view. Then he looked down at me and his eyes softened.

"We'se better get you back, huh? It's near dark." Skittery told me. I nodded and we headed for the park exit. Skittery held onto my hand the whole time, but I thought nothing of it. I simply skipped next to him as we walked, completely content.

When we reached my apartment building, my mother was on the second-story fire escape, hanging out clothes to dry. She noticed me as she glanced down. "Laura! Where have you been all day?" She scolded from the fire escape. "Wit Skitts, Mommy!" I called back.

Most families considered newsies to be low social-status and looked down on them. But my family wasn't much better off money-wise than the newsies were. At first, my parents tried to get me to befriend some of the girls I went to school with. Soon enough they gave up and accepted Skittery as my best friend.

"Hello, Skittery." My mom greeted him. "Would you like to stay for dinner?" She asked him. He shook his head. "No thank ya, ma'am. I'se gotta be gettin' home." He replied. Skittery's home was the lodging house on the other side of town, because he had no parents. He didn't like to talk about it, but from what he told me his parents had given him up at a young age. Instead of living at an orphanage, he became a newsie.

Skittery let go of my hand and turned to face me. "I'll see ya tomorrow, Laur." He said, smiling down at me. I nodded quickly. "Okay. See ya tomorrow, Skitts." He gave me a quick hug and I ran up to the front door. I turned back to wave at him before I opened it and went inside.

-.:':.(.:':.).:':.-

The next day at breakfast, my father gave us the news that would change absolutely everything for me. My mother called my older brother and me to the wooden square table in the center of the room while she served breakfast.

Then my father told us that we were moving to another town in Colorado. The state had entered the union in 1876 and now the population was rapidly increasing. Gold was turning up in all different parts of the state. On top of that, land was extremely abundant. We would be able to get a much bigger house for a decent price.

The rest of my family was more than thrilled, but I wasn't. Even at the age of eight, I understood that it would be nothing like New York City. There wouldn't be any tall buildings, or horse-drawn carriages every which way you looked, or cobblestone roads, or street venders on every corner, or waking up to the distinct calls of newsies... Most importantly, I would have to leave Skittery behind.

So for the next three weeks, my family and I packed up our one-room apartment. All of our belongings, except for the furniture too heavy to take with us, were stuffed into suitcases and ready to be dragged across the country.

I remember the exact day I left. It was a perfect summer morning without even a cloud in the sky, but the weather completely clashed with my mood. While my parents and brother were loading everything into the carriage, I couldn't bring myself to step out of the doorway. Tears filled my eyes as I stared into the empty apartment. The walls were bare where picture frames had once hung, and now the wallpaper behind them looked newer than the rest.

The stove, the dresser, the bookshelf, and the two beds were the only things left now. It wasn't just the small room that we were leaving behind. It was every dinner we ever shared together, and every winter night when we lit a fire in the fireplace and listened to my father read from a book. Every autumn day when I came home from playing with Skittery in Central Park, and my mother would check my hair for ticks after we jumped in the leaves. All the memories I had, from age one to age eight, felt like they were being left behind with the old apartment.

When I finally forced myself downstairs, Skittery was waiting on the curb for me. He stood up and I hugged him for several minutes straight, refusing to let go and crying into his shirt. He was quiet as I babbled things he couldn't understand through the tears, but he nodded and stroked my hair as if he could understand.

My father urged me into the carriage, and I finally pulled myself away from Skittery, but not before standing on tip-toe and giving him a quick kiss on the cheek. Before I could walk away, he took off his newsboy hat and placed it on my head. Too big for me, it fell over my eyes and blocked my vision.

I pushed it up again and looked at Skittery with a confused expression. "It'll suit ya one day." He told me, forcing a sad smile onto his face. I tried to give it back, but he refused. My parents called me into the carriage again. I left Skittery standing on the sidewalk with his hands in his pockets, watching the carriage trot away.

-.:':.(.:':.).:':.-

So the first chapter was a little emo, but I guess she's allowed to sob her eyes out since she's a little kid... It'll get better. I promise. Thanks for reading, and please review if you can! I'd love to hear what you think.


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the original characters from the Disney movie, "Newsies." The only characters in this story that I claim ownership over are Laura and her family.

Sorry it took me all day to get this out. I usually update first thing in the morning when I wake up, but I slept over my friends house last night. Actually, I slept over the _outside_ of my friends house last night. In a tent. Yep, we're so hardcore. Sense the sarcasm.

-.:':.(.:':.).:':.-

It was the first time I laid eyes on the city since I was eight years old. Manhattan hadn't changed as the place where I had spent the first half of my childhood, but through my eyes it was completely different. The innocence in everything was gone, and now I saw the city for what it really was. A place full of poverty and labor, where the rich made the rules and the poor simply followed them.

For five previous years, my family lived in Colorado. It took some getting used to, but I was happy enough. Nowhere near as happy as I was in New York City, but I could deal with it. We bought a house on a decent sized piece of land with the money we had saved up. My father began working in the mines, searching for gold.

He never found anything big enough to send us rocketing into the wealthy class, but it kept a roof over our heads and food on the table. The sixth year in Colorado, everything went wrong. After years of working down in the mines, my father was constantly exposed to dust and extreme heat. He began to get seriously ill and passed away from Black Lung Disease a few weeks afterwards.

With no income for the family, my brother Corey, who just turned 17 at the time, wanted to take over my father's job at the mines. However, my mother wouldn't allow it. She refused to let him get sick the same way my father did. So instead, Corey went back to Ireland where my grandmother had left a house for us in her will. He would sell what he could and possibly get a job, sending the money he made over to us.

At first, our plan worked out alright. But soon enough, the letters and money slowed to a stop. Since we couldn't get in touch with Corey anymore, we didn't know what to think. Maybe he had gotten ill or simply stopped earning money, but for whatever reason we stopped hearing from him. Corey never came back to America.

Within the same year, my mother died as well. Both of us got sick that winter. It began with a cold and a sore throat, but quickly turned into a high fever. The fever rose steadily for a few days, until mine finally broke. My mothers' fever didn't, however, and she passed away the next morning.

I left soon after that, leaving the empty house behind and abandoned. I took with me all the money I could find and a knapsack filled with a few necessary items. For the next year and a half, I just traveled with no destination in mind.

Alone, I steadily moved east across the country. Once in a while, I would stop and work a few days at an odd-job that would hire me. When I had a little more money to spend on food, I would move on to the next place, either on foot or by jumping a freight train.

Luckily, I never really had any serious problems while I traveled. I guess because most of the places I visited weren't nearly as urbanized as New York City. Most of the places I went to were farms or small towns, so no one really thought twice about a teenager passing through.

It was summer by the time I reached Manhattan. I figured there wasn't much further east I could go, so I would start to head south. I wasn't planning to stay in the city long. Just until I had a few dollars. Then I'd leave it behind like every other place I'd been to. But that all changed when I caught sight of him.

I was walking down the street searching for an 'employees wanted' sign in any of the shop windows. For whatever reason, something across the street made me look up and I spotted him. By pure chance, he just happened to stand out to me in the crowd. He was leaning against a lamp post, looking through a newspaper as people rushed by him.

However, I couldn't see him clearly. Not from the distance I was at and the horde of people blocking my vision. I tried to tell myself that it wasn't him. That there was no way he had stayed in New York City after all these years. But from what I could see, the teenager looked an awful lot like my childhood best friend.

If it was him, Skittery had gotten noticeably taller. His brown hair was still the same, though. Still an unruly mess. He also wore pink long johns underneath his clothes. Why? I have no clue.

I tried to keep walking, but I couldn't push the boy out of my head. I decided to make sure it was him. I crossed the street and tried to steal a glace at him without him seeing me. However, every time a space in the crowd would clear, he'd turn his head away or bury it in the pages of the paper.

Aggravated, I walked up to him and forcefully bumped my shoulder straight into his, making him drop some of his newspapers. "Oh God, I'm _so_ sorry!" I stated loudly. Probably a little over-dramatically, too. He turned his head to look at me with a scowl on his face.

As soon as we locked eye-contact, I knew it was him. His scowl didn't soften as he looked down at me, but his brown eyes did. Skittery was searching my face, trying to figure out where he had seen it before. I tore my gaze away. "Woops, gotta go." I muttered before he could get a good look at me. I pushed through the crowd and ran off in the other direction.

I don't know why I ran away from him. I guess I was scared of him finding out who I was, and from the look in his eye he almost had it figured out. Maybe I was scared that Skittery had changed. Or maybe I was scared that I had changed. In all fairness, I knew I had. I wasn't the same carefree girl that he befriended years before.

I needed to see him again, though. I told myself it was because I wanted to make sure it was really him, but that wasn't the reason at all. In the back of my mind, I knew right off the bat that he was Skittery. But I was just making excuses. More than anything, I wanted to talk to him again.

I started to form a plan in my head. Maybe Skittery still stayed at the lodging house... I might be able to get in there to see him. But there was one ground rule to the whole plan: Skittery couldn't find out who I was.

-.:':.(.:':.).:':.-

Skittery's Point of View. 

Race had finally gotten everyone to sit down in a circle. In reality, it was more like a deformed oval, but that was neither here nor there. The point was that Racetrack had, once again, achieved the impossible. He had managed to get about a dozen rowdy teenagers (newsies, to be exact) to shut their traps and sit for a few seconds. That's why he was the dealer.

See, Saturdays were our poker nights. Of course, we played poker pretty much every night on account of there being absolutely nothing else to do once we finished selling our papes. But on Saturdays, it was one big game. And anyone who happened to pass by the lodging house was allowed to join.

"A'right." Race stated. "Is dat everyone who's playin' dis round?" He looked around at the faces of the newsies who he had already cleaned out during past games earlier in the night. They all shook their heads quickly and a smug look formed on Racetrack's face as he sat down. Cowboy and I, who were still in the game, exchanged looks while we rolled our eyes.

"One more." Someone muttered. A penny, which was the payment for joining the game, was thrown into the pile in the center. We looked up to see a kid, somewhere around our age. He was small, though, with the brim of his cap covering most of his face. His clothes, especially his button-down shirt, were a couple sizes too loose on him. As he squeezed into a small opening in the circle, he kept his eyes shaded from view.

Racetrack cleared his throat to bring our attention back to him once he finished shuffling. "Dealing." He told us, tossing the cards in front of each person one by one. Once I had my five cards, I picked them up to look at them. _Five of hearts, two of spades, queen of hearts, six of diamonds, and an eight of clubs. In other words, nothing._

I sighed and picked three of them at random, putting them face down in front of me. "Three." I told Race, pushing the cards towards the dealer. As soon as I spoke, the new kid looked up at me. For a split second, he lifted his head so his eyes were visible from under the brim of the hat. There was something so familiar about his eyes...

Before I could take a second glance, the kid was looking down again and Racetrack had replaced my old cards. This time I got a king of clubs, an eight of hearts, and a four of clubs. _Still nothing._ I sighed. _It's gonna be a long night..._

-.:':.(.:':.).:':.-

Three hours and an uncountable number of games later, the lobby of the lodging house was emptying out. Newsies from other parts of the city had gone home, and even some of the Manhattan newsies had retreated upstairs to go to bed.

Racetrack had cleaned out everyone except those who were smart enough to drop out before they lost every cent they had on them. So the circle had decreased a sizable amount, and now it was only Racetrack and the new kid, who hadn't uttered a word since he first showed up.

The guy was a decent poker player, but we all knew he just stayed in because he joined the game late. Therefore, the rest of us had already lost half our money by the time he joined. Being "decent" at poker wouldn't help you when you were up against Racetrack Higgins.

Mush yawned. "It's gettin' real late, guys..." He stated, getting up from the couch where he had been watching the poker game. "Yeah..." Itey agreed, standing up as well. "Besides, I'se gotta sell double tomorrow to make up for everythin' I lost tonight... Due to _dis_ one over heah." He stated, tilting his head in Racetrack's direction.

Race shrugged innocently, shuffling the cards skillfully in his hands. "It ain't me fault you guys nevah learn. Maybe if you was smart you'd stop tryin' to beat me in Pokah." He replied.

"Dat ain't a bad idea..." Crutchy pointed out. The remaining newsies in the room laughed at the way Racetrack's grin disappeared and his eyes got wide with alarm. I briefly saw a smirk pulling at the corner of the new kid's mouth.

A large group shuffled up the staircase towards the bunkroom, leaving just me, Cowboy, Kid Blink, Snoddy, Racetrack, and the "mute" in the lobby. "Now you'se _shoah_ you wanna play anudder round?" Race asked. The boy nodded.

"A'right..." Race sighed in an "I warned you" way. He turned his head towards me. "Da little pipsqueak don't give up very easily, does he?" He muttered. I shrugged. "Strange guy." I whispered back. Still, I couldn't shake the feeling that I knew him.

Of course, Racetrack won the poker game. None of us were surprised, really, including the unknown kid.

As Race was collecting the money pile in the middle, Kloppman cleared his throat from the front desk. "A'right, a'right. Funs over, boys. Let's go, wrap it up. It's near two A.M." The remaining newsies helped Racetrack collect his scattered deck of cards. When we looked up a few seconds later, the kid had slipped out without any of us noticing.

-.:':.(.:':.).:':.-

Over the next few weeks, he kept coming back for the poker games on Saturday nights. None of the newsies knew his name. He didn't speak one word to any of us. The strangest thing was that even though he kept losing, the kid would stay the entire night. When he ran out of betting money, he would sit against the wall in the darker end of the lobby and just watch the game from under the brim of his hat.

The majority of the guys found him somewhat creepy, but none of us really minded him. He wasn't hurting anyone by just being there, right? It was the nagging feeling in the pit of my stomach that told me we had met before that bothered me. Maybe if I could get him to talk to me I'd find out for sure.

-.:':.(.:':.).:':.-

Thanks so much for reading, and please review if you can. Love hearing what you guys think.

**MontanaSky: **Thanks for reviewing! Haha, yeah, I kinda take Newsies settings for granted since I live in New York, so pretty much all of them take place where I live. I don't live in the city, though. :(

**Trignifty:** I'm excited that you're excited :D. I was originally gonna make this story into a full story like the rest, but I figured I don't have the ideas nor the patience for it. That's so ironic that the original character has the same name as you! My name was gonna be Laura when I was born, and I'm sorta sad that my parents decided to pick Maria. Then again, I'd also rather to be named Mush over Maria :D

**Racerchick**: YAY! PAPES! Thanks, but I can't accept those. I'll just have to give ya a few bits... Sorry. Back to reality. Uh... I dunno. I didn't really think about it while I was writing it. In the movie they say that Jack's 17, but they don't give you any of the other newsies' ages to compare it to. I'd have to say maybe he's ten or eleven?

**washedaway56:** Haha! I hope I never stop writing, too... I don't know what else I'd occupy my time with. I love it :D. Anyway, sorry about the whole problem with the rally link and the e-mail... Pffft, friggen private messages. I WILL GET THAT LINK TO YOU IF IT'S THE LAST THING I DO!!

**ktkakes:** I wouldn't really know what it's like to move... I've been hear my entire life. Actually, I did live in NYC for two months of my life? Yay! I was born a Newsie!!... sorta. Shh... I'm allowed to dream. Anyway, I'll give you a clue: You're on the right track with what you said in the review. Close, but no cigar, to relate it to Newsies. (Race and his cigar) Haha. I'm a little too obsessed.


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: I don 't own any of the original characters from the Disney movie, "Newsies." The only characters in this story that I claim ownership over are Laura and her family.

Mmk. Last chapter. here goes.

-.:':.(.:':.).:':.-

From across the street, I watched Skittery as he leaned against the doorframe of the front entrance. It wasn't like I was stalking him from the shadows or anything. I was in clear view if he would just look up, standing silently across from the lodging house with my hands in my pockets. But I didn't have to worry about that. Skittery was too preoccupied with trying to get his cigarette lit.

Every time he would light the match, the wind would blow it out before he had time to bring it up to the cigarette wedged between his lips. Skittery would curse under his breath and toss the now useless match carelessly into the street. Then he would give it another shot, only to have the new match distinguished again.

I etched the picture of him into my mind. The way he bent over and tried to shield the flame from the wind, and the way his scowl would get evidentially bigger each time he failed. I found a tiny smile starting to creep across my face. Not because he was irritated or unsuccessful at his task or anything, but just because he was _there._

Finally, Skittery lit the tip and inhaled quickly, as if the cigarette might blow out as well. Only then did he glance up and see me. I was caught off guard for a split second before I hid my eyes under the brim of my cap and walked towards him as if I hadn't stopped to watch him at all.

"Hey." He said as I walked past him. I nodded in his direction as my shielded way of saying hello, but I didn't dare mutter a word. I pushed the lodging house door open and stepped inside. "See ya later." I heard him mumbled before it closed behind me.

I looked around the lodging house lobby. It had only just gotten dark, but the poker game was already in full swing. "Jus' started a new round a'couple minutes ago... Mind waitin' for da next one?" Racetrack asked me. I shook my head and sat down against the wall closest to the front door.

I glanced around the room and let my mind wander. Over the past few weeks, I realized that I recognized some of the guys. Newsies like Cowboy, Kid Blink, Mush, Race, Snoddy, Specs... The ones that had been newsboys in Manhattan since their childhoods. But they had grown up so much. They were all so much taller now, and so much more mature. Sure, they still joked around a lot, but they didn't childishly taunt each other as much as they used to back then.

Cowboy was the leader of them now. I recalled how scared of him I used to be. Now, I wondered why. Although he had turned out to be tough, he had also developed a sweet side to him. Over the last few weeks, I had been silently taking in the names of newer newsies. Ones like Dutchy, Boots, Snipeshooter, Itey, Bumlets...

Through listening and watching them interact with one another, I got to know each of their personalities. But, thankfully, none of them had gotten to know mine.

The lodging house door opened and Skittery stepped in, having finished his smoke. He hastily glanced down at me while shutting the door. I pulled my legs into my chest so he didn't have to step over them while going over to the poker game. But, completely surprising me, he put his back to the wall and slid down so he was seated next to me.

"Hey." He repeated for the second time tonight. Again, I nodded in his direction. A short pause followed. "So... Ya like poker, huh?" He asked. I shrugged in response. "Well... Ya must if you'se comin heah every Saturday for da past month."

Without even a shrug this time, I looked down, hiding my eyes even more from view. Skittery sighed quietly, not intending for me to hear it. But I did. He wasn't going to give up that easily. For some unknown reason he was set on getting me to say something. He attempted again to make conversation.

"Nice hat." He said simply. Immediately, a lump started to form in my throat. It was Skittery's hat. The one that he had given me the day I left for Colorado. It was one of the few things that I took with me, and I just got so used to having the old newsboy cap that I thought nothing of it when I incorporated it into my boy costume. How could I have been so _stupid?_  
He looked up to meet my eyes. "Ya know, I used to have one jus' like it." Skittery told me. My eyes got wide.

_He knows_.

Unsure what else to do, I scrambled to my feet and dashed for the door, flinging it open. As I jumped down the few stairs in front of the lodging house building, I lost my footing and went tumbling to the sidewalk.

By the time I pulled myself up again, Skittery had reopened the door and was running towards me. "Hey! What was dat about?" He called. I tried to get away, but he forcefully put his hand on my upper arm, whirling me around to face him. "Hey, I'se talkin' to ya!" Skittery yelled.

Realization struck me. He didn't know at all. It was just a simple statement about the hat. He was just trying to make conversation and I had blown my cover for no reason. Now Skittery _knew_ something was up. I sighed, exhaling slowly. Then I forced myself to look up.

I peered unguardedly at him from under the brown hat, without looking away this time. For a few seconds, Skittery stared back at me with his eyes narrowed in confusion. Slowly, his eyes widened and his mouth started to fall open. He understood.

He carefully raised his hand up to my head, clutching the newsboy hat. Skittery paused for a moment before he pulled it off. My hair fell onto my shoulders and Skittery dropped the hat to the sidewalk beside me, thoroughly shocked.

"L-Laura?" he stuttered. I bit my lip and nodded. The way he stared at me reminded me of why I didn't want to tell him in the first place. Skittery looked at me awkwardly and traumatized. _I should've known too much time had passed for him to just take me back as his best friend..._

I expected him to start yelling at me, demanding to know why I had lied to him. I expected Skittery to insist that I tell him why, for the past month, I was hiding myself from him behind boy clothes and the brim of a newsboy hat. But he didn't.

Suddenly, Skittery wrapped his arms around me and pulled me into him, hugging me tightly. "Laura... Laur, I missed ya so much." He muttered. Skittery stroked my hair with his hand like he always used to. I closed my eyes and smiled into his chest. "I missed you, too." I told him honestly.

For a few minutes, Skittery rocked me gently back and forth as he switched his weight from one foot to the other. Then he pulled back just enough to look me in the eye. Skitts put his hands on either side of my face.

"My God, you'se changed so much..." He whispered. It was what I had been afraid of hearing, but Skittery's warm smile assured me that it wasn't meant to be a negative comment. He'd changed, and so had I. But we were best friends, and that would never change.

Still, something about our relationship _had_ altered on us. Skittery had hugged me and looked into my eyes with that smile all the time when we were little kids, and I never thought anything of it. But now my heart was racing and I felt butterflies in my stomach. The childish innocence in our relationship was gone now, and I looked at him in a completely different sense.

Skittery's smile faded and he blinked a few times as he searched my face. Slowly, he closed the distance between us until his lips were against mine. My eyes gradually closed and I found myself feeling like all the air had been taken from my lungs.

Skittery finally pulled away from the kiss. I looked at him with a half smile on my face, still kind of dazed from what had just happened. Then, regaining a hold of my mind, I bent down to pick up the hat from the sidewalk. I glanced down at it in my hands for a split second before I pushed it towards him. "I believe that dis is yours." I said.

Skittery paused for a second, staring down at the hat as well. He took it, but shook his head from side to side. Then he placed it back on my head and tilted my chin up so he could look at me. He smiled.

"Nah. It suits you." Skittery said.

The End. 

-.:':.(.:':.).:':.-

Thanks so much for reading, and I hope you liked it. MontanaSky, Trignifty, Racerchick, washedaway56, ktkakes, SilverRain1.3, Star Lewis, Rambles, and NarniaRulz: Thanks for your reviews during this story!!

Okay, guys. Got some news.

There's only so much I can do with a bunch of newsies in a lodging house from the 1900's. After ten stories, I'm kind of out of ideas. I think I'm gonna stop with the newsies fan fictions, and move on to some original stories. When I first joined this site, I doubted that anyone would read my stuff. So thanks to the people who did. You guys helped me improve (I hope) as a writer, not to mention helped me enjoy writing even more. I'm really gonna miss hearing from you people, but who knows? Maybe I'll get another idea and come back here to write it. As for now, I think I'm gonna move on to the Fictionpress site. I've already started writing a horror/romance sorta story... Oh god, wish me luck haha.

-Maria


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